Upcoming Exhibitions
Uncommon Perfection: Illustrations by Derek Norman
13 March – 9 May 2025
In celebration of the recent acquisition of over 200 artworks by Derek Norman, this exhibition highlights work created over the last three decades and reflects his lifelong interest in the beauty of nature. Among the most respected botanical artists working in the United States today, Norman is an adored educator and a prolific and energetic chronicler of the natural world. With bold linework and a deep understanding for composition and design, he conveys with a simple line drawing the graceful movement and complex structures of the natural world. Artwork selections focus on his pen-and-ink illustrations of native wildflowers, grasses and sedges from the areas surrounding his former home in the Chicago, Illinois, area and his current home in southern Alabama. Also included are process sketches, examples from published articles, artworks created with watercolor and graphite, and examples of the hand-drawn lettering he developed for his many published newspaper columns.
Norman was born in Shropshire, England, and educated in fine art and design in both England and the United States. After years working in advertising and design, in 1973 Norman, his wife, Ursel, and their three children moved to Chicago, where they remained until moving to Mobile, Alabama, in 2014. Since 1973 Norman has taught botanical art classes and created exhibits at the Chicago Botanic Garden in Glencoe, Illinois, and the Mobile Botanical Gardens in Mobile, Alabama, and has worked with both gardens to illustrate the flora of the regions. He collaborated with other artists to form the Reed-Turner Botanical Artists' Circle, Chicago, and the Coastal Alabama Botanical Artists' Circle of the American Society of Botanical Artists. Founder and director of the Midwest Center for Botanical Documentation, he also authored and/or illustrated several newspaper columns about plants and horticultural subjects.
During his long and immensely productive career, Norman was an elected member of the London Creative Circle; the Royal Society of Industrial Artists, London; Designers and Art Directors Association of London; and a fellow of the Linnean Society of London. He has exhibited and won medals with the American Society of Botanical Artists and the Royal Horticultural Society. He was in our own 10th International Exhibition of Botanical Art & Illustration (2001), and his work is in the permanent collections of the Library of Congress, the British Museum and the Brooklyn Botanic Garden's Florilegium Society as well as numerous private collections.
Reception
The reception on Thursday, 13 March (5:00–7:00 p.m.) is open to the public. At 5:30 p.m. in the gallery the curators will introduce the exhibition.
Hours
The exhibition will be on display on the 5th floor of the Hunt Library building at Carnegie Mellon University and will be open to the public free of charge. Hours: Monday–Friday, 9:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m. Because our hours of operation are occasionally subject to change, please call or email before your visit to confirm. For further information, contact the Hunt Institute at 412-268-2434.